RFI: Vacation Ideas

[Nephrology]

Colorado

[TGS]

Well, after a bunch of looking we're narrowing in on an all-inclusive in either Cancun or Punta Cana. For two major reasons, 1) Southwest Airlines flies to both locations and I have enough miles to buy at least one of our round trip tickets to reduce out-of-pocket costs. 2) Adults-only all-inclusive resorts for ~$2-250/night, makes 8-nights a pretty reasonable stay.

I've been to Cancun several times before and have seen the tourist attractions, wife hasn't, but a day going to Tulum would be sufficient for her. Punta Cana is basically just sitting on the beach which sounds good.

I went to Punta Cana for 9 days, it was fairly fun. We stayed at the Alsol Luxury Village in Cap Cana, paired with Alsol Tiara. This gave us access to both places amenities/restuarants, which was nice, and they had a doctors' office on premises incase you got sick. Fake beach was fake...I would rather have stayed at Alsol Sanctuary Del Mar.

Punta Cana is a fake location......imagine if the NY/NJ Port Authority bought a huge swath of coastline and developed it into a resort area, and called it whatever they wanted. The result is that infrastructure is fairly good, and everything is generally made to be convenient. You won't be visiting the Dominican Republic, though. So get that idea out of your head (if it's there). You'll be visiting a resort.

There's more you can do than just sitting on the beach. You can easily fill up a couple days at the various "adventure" parks in the area.....we went to Scape Park and did an eco tour, cave walk, zip-lining, and I absolutely loved the two cenotes I visited. Google Hoyo Azul, Punta Cana. Mandatory visit if you stay in Punta Cana.

We went for a wedding, so we had lots of family there. It was otherwise a very unauthentic experience. It was nice, but I'll probably never go back. We stayed in a 1300sq/ft condo for 9 days at $170/night, all-inclusive......and they didn't skimp on the food or drinks, and every day would leave surprises in our room, like beer, wine, champagne, chocolate or other snacks, etc. It might be just the ticket for what you want/desire/need at this point....price wise, I don't know if you can beat it.

We went during off-season, so there wasn't too many people. But with your desire for, "few people. very few", I think you still might want to look elsewhere. My understanding of "very few people" might be different than yours, however.

[RevolverRob]

I went to Punta Cana for 9 days, it was fairly fun. We stayed at the Alsol Luxury Village in Cap Cana, paired with Alsol Tiara. This gave us access to both places amenities/restuarants, which was nice, and they had a doctors' office on premises incase you got sick. Fake beach was fake...I would rather have stayed at Alsol Sanctuary Del Mar.

Punta Cana is a fake location......imagine if the NY/NJ Port Authority bought a huge swath of coastline and developed it into a resort area, and called it whatever they wanted. The result is that infrastructure is fairly good, and everything is generally made to be convenient. You won't be visiting the Dominican Republic, though. So get that idea out of your head (if it's there). You'll be visiting a resort.

There's more you can do than just sitting on the beach. You can easily fill up a couple days at the various "adventure" parks in the area.....we went to Scape Park and did an eco tour, cave walk, zip-lining, and I absolutely loved the two cenotes I visited. Google Hoyo Azul, Punta Cana. Mandatory visit if you stay in Punta Cana.

We went for a wedding, so we had lots of family there. It was otherwise a very unauthentic experience. It was nice, but I'll probably never go back. We stayed in a 1300sq/ft condo for 9 days at $170/night, all-inclusive......and they didn't skimp on the food or drinks, and every day would leave surprises in our room, like beer, wine, champagne, chocolate or other snacks, etc. It might be just the ticket for what you want/desire/need at this point....price wise, I don't know if you can beat it.

We went during off-season, so there wasn't too many people. But with your desire for, "few people. very few", I think you still might want to look elsewhere. My understanding of "very few people" might be different than yours, however.

Thank you for this suggestion!

We ended up booking a Honeymoon Suite with private jacuzzi at the Alsol del mar - price wasn't too bad at $256/night all-inclusive. And I figured the ability to have access to my own "body of water" would make up for it not being an adults-only resort. We splurged a little bit, because we were able to offset airfare costs by booking Southwest flights with miles. In total, between the hotel, boarding fees for the dog, passport renewal for the wife, and airfare fees and taxes - we're going to come in at ~3-3100.

We're looking forward to it, I'll update with a review.

[45dotACP]

Soooo...not going on a Carnival cruise then?

(Jk bro jk)

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[RevolverRob]

Soooo...not going on a Carnival cruise then?

(Jk bro jk)

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I hate boats so much.

Seriously.

Aside from racing jet boats in shallow water, I'm not sure why ANYONE would be interested in owning/sailing on/riding in/going anywhere by boat. The Wright Brothers were geniuses and effectively eliminated the need for boats to continue to exist, at least as people transporters.

[JAD]

I am obligated through commercial self interest to point out that a ferry is often a more economical way to move people than a big ass bridge, and is ALWAYS more economical than an airplane.

[RevolverRob]

Just got back from a week in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic - Technically we stayed in Cap Cana, which is a, moderately developed, private community less than 20 minutes from the airport. 7-days at Al Sol Del Mar resort, all inclusive, with a hot tub on our balcony. It was a really lovely trip.

Del Mar is a very nice resort, that was actually originally built as a condo-community set to open about 2008...Needless to say, they didn't sell very many condos and instead turned it into a small-scale all-inclusive resort. Despite being a "family friendly" resort, there were only a couple of families there. Partly, because Cap Cana is fairly far from the main tourist areas and as a result has virtually nothing for kids to do. In my opinion, that's perfect, it means virtually no kids.

The resort had moderate to light people traffic. We never had a problem finding an umbrella by the pool - away - from other people. A number of the other couples there were French or Canadian couples. They kept to themselves (exactly as I wanted). Not tons of amenities at the resort, but our all inclusive covered all meals, drinks, room service, etc. In all, we got exactly what I'd hoped for, a private, inclusive, experience, in a low populated place. Drinks were acceptable and the food was excellent at the resort. We spent 6 of our 7 days in the resort, and took a dune buggy driving tour of Punta Cana/Bavarro/local countryside one day. Our tour was perfect, we had a Belgian Ex-Pat tour guide and I drove us in an air-cooled VW buggy, and we stopped at a cigar factory and a rum and chocolate museum/factory.

All-in-all, I have to thank @TGS for the recommendation of Punta Cana and Al Sol resorts. The wife and I had a really good time and enjoyed the DR, though we didn't see a whole lot of it (that was really kind of our goal). If anyone wants a low-key, couples friendly, all-inclusive resort, Al Sol Del Mar was excellent and nicely isolated from the surrounding area. We had a great vacation, though it wasn't the type of "traveling" I normally do (since I tend to travel light and improvise/live locally), it was really excellent. I could see how folks get used to vacationing like a tourist.

[RevolverRob]

Double tap.

[Drang]

The current question is, just avoid Playa del Carmen, or Quintana Roo entirely?